Week ahead: Traders eye rate setter speeches for signs of quicker tightening July 3, 2022 Investors this week will be looking for signs of the Bank of England launching a 50 basis point rate rise at its next meeting on 4 August. London’s premier FTSE 100 index posted a mild performance over last week, dropping 0.56 per cent to end at 7,168.65 points. The domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index however [...]
Payday: City law firm hikes starting salary for junior lawyers to £120k July 2, 2022 Square Mile law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has boosted its starting salary for junior lawyers to £120,000, as the City pay battle wages on. The firm has hiked pay for junior lawyers by 24 per cent, in a bid to compete with other law firms also increasing staff pay. The increase comes as Bank of [...]
Zero sympathy: Jacob Rees-Mogg slams ‘selfish’ and ‘unnecessary’ strikes July 1, 2022 Brexit Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has hit out at “selfish” strikers, claiming that they are hampering productivity in the Civil Service. The Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency was about the numbers of people in the Civil Service who have returned to the office. “Well, they were getting better until the railways went on strike,” [...]
Britain needs to respond to the ‘kindness of strangers’ July 1, 2022 Britain has always been an attractive place for investors to park their money. The country’s economic dynamism has helped it pull in billions of pounds of investment, mainly toward its world-leading services industry and financial services businesses. Although the City’s banks, insurers and brokers have contributed a great deal to UK growth, the country is [...]
Mortgage costs expected to grow by another £2,500 as inflation spirals July 1, 2022 The cost of a mortgage is expected to grow by another £2,500 by the end of this year, in comparison with December 2021, according to property site Zoopla today. Economists anticipate “sharp” hikes to mortgage rates in the coming months, as the Bank of England seeks to tame spiralling inflation, which is already at 9.1 [...]
Mounting downturn jitters send London’s FTSE 100 lower June 30, 2022 Mounting concerns about a global economic downturn sent London’s top indexes tumbling today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index shed 1.96 per cent to close at 7,169.28 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, fell 1.95 per cent to 18,666.78 points. A combination [...]
No cost of living crisis for Prince Charles as Duchy of Cornwall’s assets swell to record £1.2bn after £93m ‘staycation’ boost June 30, 2022 Annual accounts published this afternoon show that the total assets of the Duchy of Cornwall’s landed estate have risen to more than £1.2bn, a jump of nearly £93m since last year. As heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales is entitled to the Duchy’s profits as his yearly private income, which came to £23m [...]
Johnson says sky-high inflation is ‘big chance’ to fix cost pressures and ‘do things differently’ as PM denies being complacent June 30, 2022 The Prime Minister said today there is a “big chance” to fix unnecessary cost pressures for people and businesses across the UK as Boris Johnson denied that his Government is being “complacent” about spiralling inflation. Speaking at a press conference at the close of the Nato summit in Madrid, Johnson said the “very, very tight [...]
UK more likely than US and Europe to tip into recession, Goldman Sachs warns June 30, 2022 The UK is more likely to tip into recession than the US and Europe due to the country suffering from a more “acute” cost of living crisis, a top Wall Street investment bank has warned. Rampant inflation in Britain, running at a four decade high of 9.1 per cent and the highest in the G7, [...]
Bailey: Steeper rate hike at Bank of England’s next meeting is ‘on the table’ June 29, 2022 A larger rate hike is “on the table” at the Bank of England’s next meeting on 4 August, its chief said today. Speaking on a panel at the European Central Bank’s (ECB) forum on central banking in Sintra, Portugal, Bank governor Andrew Bailey did not rule out a steeper rate rise, saying “there will be [...]